Sussex Bantam

Hi - having had years of booking flights from London I've had my eyes opened via this and other sites to the other options available and I think I have persuaded Mrs Bantam that saving a whole load of money is worth the hassle of taking our next flight from Dublin !

I would appreciate some advice though. The plan is to take one of the following three flights (all in Business/First)

1) DUB-JFK (AA291) on a 757 Dep 8.55 Arr 12.10 followed by JFK-MCO (AA285) on a 737 Dep 13.59 Arr 16.47

2) DUB-CLT (AA725) on a 757 Dep 9.30 Arr 12.45 followed by CLT-MCO (AA812) on a A321 Dep 14.30 Arr 16.06

3) DUB - PHL (AA723) on a A330 Dep 11.35 Arr 14.05 followed by PHL-MCO (AA1792) on a 757 Dep 15.50 Arr 18.29

Any views on the best of these options ? Do the layover times look sufficient ?

We plan to fly to Dublin the night before - tips on good places to stay near the airport ?

We will be flying with my two kids - 6 and 8 - if that has a bearing !

Thanks for any advice forthcoming...

happeemonkee

Option 3 for the flights. The A330 is a massive upgrade on the 757 with 1-2-1 seating in the business cabin

jock

flown on all three of those routes..and I can tell u that the A330 is the best of the lot. Nice seats..waaay better than the 757's.

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Blueboys999

While the 757 isn't wonderful by any means, for a party of 4 on what is a comparatively short TATL crossing at the start of a trip, you will be perfectly fine. IMO the 330 on your return is a step above BA's J and only marginally inferior to the excellent AA 77W.

The layover on the outbound is more than enough as you'll have the advantage of clearing Immigration & Customs in Dublin so you just walk off the plane into the terminal.

For me, the hotels around DUB are much of a muchness and most if not all have shuttles to and from the terminals. A quick search on this board will give you some idea of the various options and individual preferences.

FlyingB1975

Not sure I would do this kind of trip with two children. Assuming you'll do London-DUB-East Coast-MCO in pretty much one go it will be a very stressful experience.

GentleGiant

option 3 - that is the route that I am going.

Although at the moment, I am looking at AA551 from PHL to MCO as it is on a A321 which I believe to be better than the 757. However this does mean a longer layover in PHL.

Blueboys999

Your call of course but it isn't a long flight and the difference isn't that much so as would justify the longer layover for me. It also rather negates the advantage of pre-clearing in DUB.

Gatwick Alan

Whilst the A330 is vastly superior to the 757, as you are travelling with 2 young children, the 757 with its 2x2 seating arrangement might be a better option for you, I wouldn't want it on the overnight flight home though.

I have stayed at 3 different hotels, the holiday inn express/ crowne plaza have a nice park opposite, which if the weather is good could be a useful distraction for the children. The shuttle was reliable. The holiday inn express is pretty bog standard.

corporate-wage-slave

If I was a single traveller, I'd certainly be looking for option 3, though of course note that since AA/US' fleet is so diverse, what you end up with on the day could be something rather different. Particularly given all the scheduling re-work they are doing at the moment.

For a family, on a not-so-long daytime trip, in some ways the more classic layout of the 757 isn't necessarily a problem, you could do a block or a row and get easy access to everyone. The A330 is a bit spread out if you have young children. For a night flight there are other challenges, maybe you wouldn't be planning on getting much sleep, maybe you would. The IFE options on the 330 would be better, on the other hand. On the 757s they hand out Galaxy tablets.

I would rule out option 1, it's an early start and a connection in a big terminal which is prone to congestion. Option 2 has some merit, it's the easiest place to connect of the three and a very pleasant airport generally. Option 3 - PHL is a spread out airport, but hopefully you would arrive and depart off the A concourse. It also gives you a later start to the day and perhaps the little ones will be tired at the end to want to go straight to sleep soon after arrival.

konagirl2

Another vote for the A330 DUB-PHL for the standard of the aircraft in J. But it does add a bit of travel time and cost if you are going to DUB the night before. The times I have taken this flight (twice in the last 6 months, with hold baggage) I have taken BA832 (06:50 from LHR) which gives you 3.5 hours in DUB. YMMV with regard to whether you wish to risk this with family in tow because if BA832 goes IRROP then your only option (with baggage) is to try and get across to LCY for 08:50.

With pre-clearance in DUB you will disembark directly into the A gates at PHL, a 5 minute walk to the lounge between B-C gates (I believe you should get entry with the arriving J boarding pass - someone may be able to confirm that).

I would strongly encourage you to book an open jaw DUB-US/US-LON and preferably a direct flight back from MCO for a few hundred more per person because the stress of sitting in LHR about to catch a delayed flight to DUB which then means you're tight on your positioning flight back, running through DUB to the bag drop where you beg for the agents to let your luggage on your (thankfully delayed) flight back to LHR is a royal PITA.

I would also be interested in recommendations for hotels at DUB. For my next ex-EU I am booked at a cheap B&B off-site because I am on the earlier JFK flight (in Y ).

Blueboys999

I agree but it is nicely located and reasonably modern.

The free breakfast can save a lot of money for 2 adults and 2 children. Not gourmet by any means but decent enough to set you up before you set off on the shuttle which I have always found to be reliable.

A P Yu

I assume this is for travel before March? If not, be careful when making any decisions based on aircraft types as American will swap and switch often between now and next summer

StuckinITH

Kids 6 and 8 are not that young and there will be two parents around. Every two years my mother in law was taking 4 kids from Buenos Aires or Montevideo to Brussels (and back) by way of Rio, Dakar, Paris in the 60's. And she had to deal with it all by herself as they were going back to Europe for three months vacation whereas her husband could only join them for one month and a half.

I would fly the 330 and give the kids window seats and the parents middle seats in the same row.

jock

Flew back from PHL to DUB in April this year..Flying back to SFO via PHL on the A330 next month...great seat IMO. Heres a few pics flying back to DUB.

Sorry for the shocking legs!





These are the window seats

NWIFlyer

I'd have to say I'd probably be more concerned about taking my parents now than young children, who seem to adapt to LH flying rather better!

With kids, given they're not in a position where they'll be consuming large amounts of time eating and drinking, I'd probably vote for the A330 given the far superior IFE. The Dublin pre-clearance takes away any concern about US immigration times, where CLT would otherwise have been an enormous draw thanks to the faultless organisation there (way above anywhere else in the US if you don't have Global Entry).

That also gives you a fairly relaxed morning in Dublin rather than trying to rush through breakfast for an 8.55am departure. I think, even without kids and GE, I'd quite probably favour that one myself.

In terms of hotels, I've only ever stayed at the Holiday Inn Express or Crowne Plaza because of my IHG status. I have a very nice corporate rate available at the Crowne Plaza, which helps, but sometimes there's very little (if any) cost difference between the two and the CP is certainly a very nice hotel for the money - the same company owns both (along with the Travelodge which is nearby, I believe).